


Hugs and Vines

by sylviayesmickey



Category: Raven Cycle - Maggie Stiefvater
Genre: Adam Parrish Loves Ronan Lynch, Eventual Fluff, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, POV Ronan Lynch, Ronan Lynch Loves Adam Parrish, Ronan Lynch/Adam Parrish Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-23
Updated: 2020-06-23
Packaged: 2021-03-03 21:27:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,241
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24872287
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sylviayesmickey/pseuds/sylviayesmickey
Summary: The same vines that injured Adam's father the night he showed up at St. Agnes keep Ronan close in comfort.Or, the night Ronan buries his dream-double, but he comes back in time to see Robert Parrish's car leaving Adam's apartment. Fluff ensues.
Relationships: Ronan Lynch/Adam Parrish
Kudos: 99





	Hugs and Vines

Ronan Lynch thought about the packet of lies that would now be with Adam at St. Agnes. He thought of Adam’s frantic horror as he had watched the convulsing dream-Ronan draw his first and final breaths in the real world. He thought about his body, buried in the barns, underneath six feet of wet soil. It was still raining, and Ronan’s clothes had gotten muddied, and he wished he’d had Adam, Gansey, Blue, all pitching in and turning what had been his nightmare into a bonding experience. But he couldn’t bother Gansey, and Adam had been hurt enough that night watching him – or something close enough – die. He’d given thought to picking up Blue, but Fox Way wasn’t along the route to the Barns and she, like Adam, was no insomniac. Blue probably had work the next day. _No,_ he had thought, _I can do this alone._ It hadn’t taken as long as he’d thought. The road back to Monmouth would take his BMW past St. Agnes, and Adam would probably still be awake. _I shouldn’t go in,_ Ronan thought, _not after we’ve…was that a fight? Whatever it was, I shouldn’t go back in tonight._ His mind was quickly changed upon seeing Robert Parrish’s car pulling away from the church’s parking lot. _Adam, Adam, Adam._ His head was spinning. Adam could be dead. His father had stopped by to see him, violating a restraining order, violating Adam’s safety, Adam could be dead. Had Adam fought back? He had never lifted a hand to stop his father before. It was suddenly a very real possibility that Adam was lying on the floor of his apartment, dying just like dream Ronan had only feet below him a mere hour or so before. Ronan resisted the urge to chase after Robert Parrish and inflict his own justice as he swerved into St. Agnes, not bothering to park the BMW properly as he rushed up the stairs to his apartment, burst through the unlocked door, only to stop as he surveyed the room for Adam. _Adam._ The boy was sitting on his thin mattress, staring at the ground, then staring at Ronan. A few minutes of this passed before Adam went back to staring at the floor. Ronan didn’t look away.

“Your father-” he started. Adam didn’t look up, but his breathing had faltered.

“Cabeswater.” Adam said, too forcefully, as if he hadn’t been sure his voice would make it out loud enough to hear.

“Like at school?” Ronan began, “With the force field?”

“Like at school. Thorns, this time.” Adam’s eyes slowly dragged across the wooden boards to Ronan’s shoes. They were still slicked with the mud of the Barns, evidence of the fresh grave that now marred the grassy landscape. Ronan took them off and set them by the door. Wordlessly, he took a pair of sweats and a t-shirt from the box of Adam’s clothing and stepped into the bathroom to get out of his soaked, muddy attire. _I’m staying with you_ , this meant. He couldn’t trust himself to speak. Ronan was still burning up on the inside at the thought of Robert Parrish daring to show up here. To try to harm Adam. That Adam probably would’ve been beaten to death if not for Cabeswater. That Ronan wasn’t with him, that if he had died it would’ve been because Ronan had refused to bring him along to the Barns.

When he exited the bathroom, Adam’s dusty-haired head was in his arms. Ronan’s posture hung limp, his tough exterior drooping into helplessness as he watched the boy he loved crumple into his own body.

“Adam, I-” He stopped. Ronan couldn’t think of what to say, no words would come to mind when every cell in his body screamed for him to hold Adam close, protect him, love him. Ronan took a shaky step, and then another, until he sat next to him on the bed. From this close up, he could see that Adam was visibly trembling in the uncontrollable way that preceded a panic attack. Ronan let out a breath and placed his hand lightly on his shoulder, needing some form of affirmation that it was okay to touch. When Adam leaned into his hand, Ronan slipped an arm around his shoulders and pulled him in, rubbing a hand across the thin t-shirt of his back in a soothing manner. Ronan’s fingers caught in several holes in the fabric, and if his touch lingered a half-second too long over the freckled skin there, it was no fault of his. Adam stayed curled into himself for a minute longer, but finally sucked some air into his lungs and wrapped his arms around Ronan’s middle. As Adam returned Ronan’s embrace, Ronan could feel vines creeping around his back and his arms, drawing him in closer and keeping him there. _Cabeswater protects him,_ Ronan wondered, _and they’re keeping me close._ A small, delighted laugh threatened its way out of him, which he habitually covered with a scoff, which he quickly suppressed for the benefit of the fragile state of the boy in his arms.

“I guess I’m not going anywhere,” Ronan stated, his tone lacking its usual sarcasm. Adam shifted his head slightly in what might’ve been a movement agreeing that _no_ , _they were staying right there,_ and landed his nose in the side of Ronan’s neck. Cabeswater tightened its grip in agreement. Ronan allowed himself a small smile, tucking his own nose into Adam’s hair.

“This is nice and all,” Ronan mumbled against Adam’s head, “but maybe we could get a little more comfortable?” By way of response, Adam shifted his weight so that the two of them fell awkwardly back onto the mattress. Ronan intended to stay awake all night, reveling in their closeness, that he was allowed to be this close, with Adam’s legs between his own and his arms around his waist and his nose in his neck. In the morning, however, Ronan awoke to find dream flowers in Adam’s hair, the product of their first night spent so close. He knew he was lucky that his nightmares hadn’t returned, that nothing could prevent them from coming, but for now, Ronan was content to find Adam in his arms, and leaves and vines from Cabeswater all around them. Adam’s light blue eyes opened, his eyelashes fluttering against Ronan’s jaw. By way of thanks, for the comfort, for returning, for holding him all night, and perhaps just because he wanted to, Adam pressed a soft kiss to Ronan’s neck. Ronan’s breath caught noticeably in his throat, and Adam laughed softly and left another beneath Ronan’s ear.

“Good mornin’” Adam mumbled, his Henrietta accent causing Ronan’s heart rate to spike beneath Adam’s good ear. This earned another light chuckle from Adam’s throat, and, oh God, Adam’s hands on his face, and his lips on his own in a gentle first kiss that made Ronan’s heart do aerobic yoga in his chest. Ronan kissed back for a few moments, but his brain was working overtime and he had to pull away, if only by a few millimeters, to mumble, “Adam?”

“Talk later, boyfriend,” Adam said, his lips brushing deliciously across Ronan’s, who’d stopped breathing at the title, “kiss now.”

Ronan didn’t think he could refuse Adam anything, so he took the boy’s upper lip between his own and let his fingers lace through the holes in Adam’s t-shirt. What a wonderful morning.


End file.
